Tom Hanks is a movie star who has been delighting us with his talents ever since most of us have been watching movies. He has been a star who has endured the test of time – he has delivered characters to us who are believable, depressing, sad, hilarious, real, and everything in between. Well, while movies like Forest Gump and Saving Private Ryan might stay on our list of timeless epics featuring our so-named Hollywood superstar, there is a lot more to Tom Hanks then the work that he is most known for. So, here are some roles played by Tom Hanks in movies that you have probably seen before, but might not remember. If you haven’t seen them in a long time, then dig them out of the closet, and start enjoying Tom Hanks all over again, like you did when you first started watching his work.

That Thing You Do

This is a movie starring Tom Hanks that was also written and produced by him. It is the hilarious story of a band who makes it big from a little town called Erie Pennsylvania back in the days of the Beatles. The band is called “The Wonders”, and the movie takes the band from the garage, to the local talent competition, to the rock and roll scene of Pittsburg, and all the way to Hollywood. Tom Hanks is the old, wisdom-hardened record label exec. Who acts as the bands manager once they sign on with “Playtone” records.

That Thing You Do

Apollo 13

This is a movie that is about the spaceship the Apollo 13 and of it’s journey to the moon. Tom Hanks plays one of the men on the spaceship who is trying desperately to stay alive as mishap after mishap promises that not only will the mission fail, but that the astronauts might not make it home alive.

Apollo 13

Catch me if you can

This amazing true story of one of the greatest con men in history pits federal agent Tom Hanks against the greatest bank fraud criminal in the history of bank fraud! But Tom Hanks’ character practically wrote the book on bank fraud for the Feds, so what we have here are the two greatest minds on the subject butting heads in an epic game of cat and mouse that is both hilarious and critical at the very same time.

If you love music, and if you love movies, than you probably love to watch movies that contain music. The only problem is, there are a lot of movies that do this in a terrible, terrible way. Often they make no sense, they are so fake that you can obviously tell that the music is not being made by the actors, and they are cheesy, to boot. Well, here are three that defy this rule – these music movies truly do sing in a real, lifelike way.
That Thing You Do.

This movie, starred in by Tom Hanks, is the story of a band who challenges the Beatles back in the early sixties. But what makes this movie so lifelike is the fact that the band actually knows what they are doing, because they all had to take eight weeks of lessons before they filmed the movie. As a result, the movie is as believable as it is delightful.

Once.

This is a movie that you actually may not have seen for it’s relative obscurity. But I have to say that this may be one of the best music movies ever made. It was filmed like a documentary, but is actually a real movie. It depicts the path of a broken hearted street music, and how he crosses ways with the girl of his dreams. The two begin playing music together, and the magic happens from there.
Music and Lyrics.

This classy, fun flick starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore is the story of a washed up English pop artist who gets a big break to enter stardom once again, but he needs a hit song to do it. Unfortunately, writing has been his weak point ever since his band broke up back in the day, leaving him desperate to find a writing partner that he can jive with. But when he finds out that his new housemaid (Barrymore) writes lyrics, he might just get the chance at stardom – and love, that he has been longing for.